Nine feeding 225

Empty brown paper bags sitting on a table were the inspiration Garnette Walls needed to start a mission project in her community.

Jackie Bridges / jbridges@shelbystar.com

Empty brown paper bags sitting on a table were the inspiration Garnette Walls needed to start a mission project in her community.

“I was at a Lutheran church in Mount Holly ,“ said Walls, who is a member of Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Shelby. “Attached to each bag was a list of food. They were supposed to buy everything needed for the Thanksgiving meal and either put $10 or a gift card in the bag for the meat .“

She thought to herself that everyone does meals at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but why not feed a family at Easter?

“I took the idea back to my Sunday School class and we did 26 bags last year ,“ she said. We got the names from a social worker at the school. Everybody filled their bags before Easter and we sent people out to deliver them in groups of two. They were very appreciative .“

This year, the mission project has mushroomed to include eight more churches and 199 more families.

“ Aldersgate is part of a missional network with eight other churches ,“ said associate pastor, the Rev. Katie R. Lineberger. “The churches are put together to make an impact on the community. We were thinking about projects and I remembered the Easter meals. I thought, ’What if we get all nine churches to do the project?’ And, there are nine schools and each school will give us 25 names of families who might benefit from this meal .“

The churches decided to collect 250 of each item, because some of the families are larger and would need more groceries. They contacted Wal-Mart about the project and the store is providing the hams for each family at a discount.

Church members will bring the items to Central United Methodist Church the Saturday before Easter to pack the bags and deliver them to the fa miles .

“We are going to people’s homes and building relationships with people and celebrating the love of Easter ,“ Lineberger said. “The smaller churches wouldn’t be able to do something like this alone, but together we can feed 225 families. We are excited that it is Holy Saturday. While Jesus is in the grave, we are out serving, being the hands and feet as we are getting ready to celebrate the resurrection.“

Nine feeding 225

The United Methodist churches involved in collecting food for 225 Cleveland County families are: